My Immortal
by Calai'di
Summary: Ryou talks about his side of life with Yami Bakura. But it's a lot different than the rest of the cast thinks. Ryou's POV. Ryou x Bakura pairing.
1. Meet my Friends

Calai'di–Okay, formal stuff. Gods I hate doing this.

I don't own Yugioh or Ryou Bakura.

This is from his point of view. And we're going on the presumption that his mother and sister did die when he was younger and he's just living in denial now.

Chapter 1: Meet my Friends

I guess it started years ago when my mother and sister, Amane, died in a car crash. Father and I had to watch as the paramedics brought their bloody, mangled bodies into the hospital. I was too young to understand what was happening, and Father told me they would be all right, though I remember him squeezing my hand very tightly when they were brought in. I began to cry when I saw them; I knew Father was wrong, and he'd never been wrong before. If I couldn't believe him, who could I believe? That realization hurt me more than anything else, and I cried for days afterward. I forced myself into believing that they lived, and for years I thought Mother and Amane had just moved to live somewhere else. Father only fed this delusion, fearing I might fall into depression if I realized the truth.

That day, as I watched the doctors try to save Mother and Amane, the first voice appeared in my mind. He calmed me down and soothingly explained everything to me, knowing a lot more than I did at the time. I didn't push him away or reject him or anything; I was to young to understand that it usually wasn't good to hear voices in your head. Besides, he helped me when none one else could or would; I was grateful that he came to me. I named him Taro.

Taro and I were to best friends you could imagine; we did everything together, though that might have been because e was in my head. He was always there for me when I called or when I needed him. I did sometimes wish he was a real person, not just a voice, so he could hold me when I was sad or so we could play game more easily, but his wisdom made up for his lack of a body. And that year passed without incident.

I never really had any other friends when I was younger. I mean, what friend I did have had other friends they'd rather be with. I was a sort of 'fall-back friend'; someone people would play with when their real friends were too busy, but usually not otherwise. I might have been my hair, or it might have been my mind, I don't know, but I found myself alone a lot. So instead of real, living friends, I had the voices in my head to talk to. After a few years, Taro wasn't the only voice. Soon, and in order, I had Rhiamon, Kieko, Kiryu, Palladin, and Akira, giving me a grand total of six voices, and they were all smarter than me.

Rhiamon was the witch, and she was good with spiritual matters; if I ever had troubled dreams, visions, or odd bad luck, I could ask her for advice. Kieko was sweet and never fought with any of the others, no matter what happened. Kiryu was a social person and pretty stuck up, and he always knew just what to do if I got picked on at school. Palladin was the warrior and undisputed blade master of the group, always giving me tips on how to do better in gym or what to do if I got picked on outside of school. Akira, the last voice to appear, was what you'd call 'psycho'; he scared me, and didn't talk to him much.

For years, these were the only true friends I had, since Father had started to move around a few times. It never occurred to me that they might have been spirit guides trying to help me; I didn't think about it that much. But soon, Taro and I had grown as close as brothers; I couldn't imagine living without him, or my other friends.

And then, Father went off to Egypt for a very important archeological dig, leaving me alone in our apartment. For those few days, I didn't talk to anyone but the voices, and that might have sealed my fate. When my father came back, he gave me a golden pendant that he'd bought at a bazaar; it was like a large ring with five spikes hanging off the sides and a triangle in the middle. In relief on the triangle was a modified Udjat eye, or Eye of Horus. I thought it was beautiful.

All of my friends immediately told me to get rid of the ring, that there was something sinister about it, but for some reason, I didn't listen to their wisdom this time. Maybe it was because Akira agreed with the rest and I didn't trust him. I began to wear the pendant all the time, every day; I guess it must have had me entranced. But somehow, for the first time in my life, I had real, living friends.


	2. The Mysterious Accidents

Chapter 2: The Mysterious Accidents

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But somehow, for the first time in my life, I had real, living friends.

I don't know how or why it happened, but I actually had living friends. Friends I could play games with, friends who wouldn't ditch me for someone else. I guess the Fates must have been smiling on me or my past life karma had been used up. Whatever it was, I had the best time of my life for about a month, with both my living and psychic friends.

Alas, the Fates must have decided I didn't deserve it.

When it started, my father was over seas again at another dig, this time in Greece. I was walking to my apartment after school, listening with a smile to Taro chew me out for getting a 'B' on my last test, when Kyo and my other living friends came up t me and asked if we could play a game. Taro and Rhiamon immediately warned me not to, but I was too elated to listen; no one but Father had ever asked to play a game with me. I led them to my apartment and we began to play my favorite game, Monster World.

We were having a lot fun, even though I was playing as the Dark Master, and it wasn't clear who was going to win yet, when I suddenly black-out. When I woke up, my friends were unconscious, and I couldn't wake them. I immediately called the hospital and watched as the paramedics carried my friends out of the apartment. I transferred schools after that.

And I made friends at my new school as well, but the same thing happened. We would begin to play a game–it didn't have to be Monster World–I would pass out and when I woke up, my friends would be in a coma. It kept happening at every school that I went to, so people began avoiding me again; it was nothing I wasn't used to, and I turned to Taro and the others again to deplete my loneliness. I transferred schools until I had to move to another city to go to school. Father did not come with me. The city I now lived in was called Domino.

The first school I went to was called Domino High, and I was put in class B. As soon as I entered, I noticed four girls giving me wide-eyed looks. _Great,_ I thought, _I bet those girls are going to pounce on me the first chance they get._ One of the girls batted her eyelashes at me as I passed, and I inwardly groaned again.

Hey, having girl problems? Kiryu taunted as I stopped at the front of the class. I could help you. You know, ideas, ways to get out of a date, and the like…

__

I don't really need help right now, thank you, I thought back at him. I turned my attention back to the classroom.

"Ahem…" began the teacher, "Attention everyone…We have someone new joining our class today."

"My name is Ryou Bakura. Pleased to meet you," I said, stepping forward slightly; I bowed politely to the class and waited for the teacher to speak again.

"Now where should we have you sit…Ah next to Jonouchi is open."

"That's me! Over here!" exclaimed a blonde boy near the front of the class, waving his arms wildly.

One of the girls that had been staring at me called out rather rudely, "Eww! Be careful, Bakura! Don't let Jonouchi pollute you!"

I almost laughed; the blonde didn't look very harmful, more like lazy, and, as if to prove my suspicions, he yelled back at the girl, "Me _pollute_ him?! Why I oughtta–" He made a violent gesture in the air at the girl and turned away from her.

"Nice to meet you, Jonouchi," I said as I sat down in the empty seat.

"Yo, same here! Let's be friends, huh? Bakura right?"

I smiled and nodded at him. _He'll make a good friend. I can sense it already._

During the next break, Jonouchi introduced me to his other friends, and they all seemed nice enough.

"Hi, I'm Yugi," said a hobbit-sized boy with tall, spiky multi-colored hair. "And this is Honda–" a boy with brown hair like the bow of a ship– "and Anzu–" a girl with short brown hair and bright, blue eyes– "It's nice to meet you. My grampa owns a game store, and he always wants me to make new friends so he can trick them out of their money, but he really is a nice guy. I just hope he doesn't trick you like he did Jonouchi."

The blonde shot his friend a look that said, "Why'd you have to remind me?" but I barely noticed; I was more impressed with the other stuff Yugi had said.

"Wow Yugi…You're family runs a game store?" I asked, just to make sure I knew what he'd said. It would be so cool if my family ran a game store!

"Do you like games, Bakura?" he asked, not answering my question.

"Yes, very much!" I answered. "I especially like board games and tabletop games…My favorite is a game called Monster World…Have you heard of it?"

"Wow, Monster World!" Yugi exclaimed.

"What kind of game is 'Monster World'?" asked Jonouchi. I sighed; maybe he wouldn't be such a brilliant friend if he didn't know about Monster World, but Yugi spun off into a long explanation about the game and some of the preliminary rules. I was really impressed with his accuracy and detail.

"I'm impressed, Yugi! You know a lot about games!" I complimented. He blushed slightly and denied it, though I knew he knew I was right.

"That sounds like fun!" Jonouchi exclaimed. "How about we _all_ play Monster World tomorrow! Huh, Bakura?"

"Uh…" I stared sadly at my desk; I hadn't expected them to want to play with me so soon. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of me, but I couldn't refuse. "O-okay…"

[Ask Yugi about that pendant around his neck,] Taro prompted before I had a chance to rethink what I'd said. [It looks a lot like yours.]

"Um…By the way, there's something I've been wondering about…" I started, "Where did you get that pendant, Yugi?"

"Oh, this?" Yugi held up the golden, inverted pyramid so I could see it better. "It's called the Millennium Puzzle. It came from the tomb of an Egyptian Pharaoh."

__

Wow, cool, I love Egypt. It must be so neat to have a possession like that, I thought. Out loud I said, "Wow, can I see it?" Yugi nodded, pulled the cord up over his hair, and handed the pentant to me. Up close, I saw the tale-tell lines that showed it was a puzzle across the surface of the shining gold. I smiled, amazed that I was touching such a cool artifact, and then remembered my own pendant. "Actually, I also–" A sharp pain flashed through my chest, catching me completely off guard. It was gone in almost a second, but the shock hurt more and stayed.

"What's wrong, Bakura?!" Yugi inquired, voice full of concern. I put on a fake smile.

"Uh…no…it's nothing. Here's this back." I handed him the Puzzle and turned back to my desk. _What's wrong with me? My chest hurt all of a sudden, for no reason at all…_

[Maybe it's the pendant,] Taro suggested.

It might be magically warded against strangers, Rhiamon suggested.

"Hey, Jonouchi!"

The female voice broke through my thoughts, and I looked up to see that the four girls who had been gawking at me were now standing in front of my desk.

"Don't hog Bakura all to yourself!" exclaimed a different girl. They dragged me out of my seat and toward the hall.

"Hey, cutie! Let us show you around the school!" said the first girl.

"We've already started a fan club for you!" said the second. I glanced back at Yugi and the others in desperation, but it was clear they were at the same dead end I was. It didn't help that both Taro and Kiryu were snickering in the back of my mind. The girls dragged me out into the hall and started pointing at different doors, saying, "That's the bathroom" or "Here's the music room." I nodded politely every now and then to show I was listening, but I'm really not good with girls, especially the fan girl, 'Kyaa'-at-every-cute-boy type of girl, like these girls.

Need help yet? Kiryu asked eagerly.

__

No, I'm just fine. I do need to know what they're telling me.

And then out of nowhere, this huge guy shows up with the funniest haircut I've ever seen. I think it's called a crew cut, and it makes him look like someone in the military. "Hey you!" he barked. "You think you can walk around the halls with a flock of girls? Whose class are you supposed to be in?!"

Unfortunately, I've forgotten the teacher's name. Not good.

"Uh-oh, it's Mr. Karita, the P.E. teacher!" said one of the girls. _Thanks, like I really needed to know that._

The teacher gave me an evil smirk. "Hmph…you're the new kid who just transferred in, aren't you? I hear you had some _problems_ at your last school…"

__

What?! How could he know?!

Suddenly, Mr. Karita grabbed me by the hair and shook me a bit. Gods, that hurt.

"However, there's _rules_ at Domino High, Mister!" he growled, shaking me back and forth via the locks of hair he had in his grip. "Like this hair! Long hair for boys is against the rules!"

"Yeek! Yeek! Oh, Bakura! Please don't hurt him!" exclaimed the girls. I couldn't help but feel annoyed that they weren't trying to help me a little bit more.

"Listen Mister Fashionable," the teacher growled, pulling closer to him, "or should I say 'Little Miss Fashionable'? I want you to have a crew cut by tomorrow! Then I'll treat you as a student of this school!" He roughly released me and walked away, laughing like some evil psycho from a TV show. The girls instantly began crooning over me.

"Are you okay, Bakura?" asked the fattest one. I almost glared at her for being so incompetent, but my head hurt too much, and my chest had begun to hurt again too. Akira had shown up as well and was ranting something about killing Mr. Karita in a very bloody, sadistic way. Not really helping much, that was.

"Yes, I'm…I'm fine," I lied. "I'm sorry, but could I be alone for a while?"

It seemed like the girls would obey my every command, because even though they were worried about me, they bowed and walked back to the classroom. I pushed past the door into the boy's bathroom and leaned up against one of the sinks. It was like I had a migraine, only it was in my chest instead of my head.

"What's _wrong_ with me?" I wondered aloud. "My chest just keeps hurting…" _Ever since I touched Yugi's pendant…_

"H-ha, ha, ha…"

I whirled around, searching for the source of the laughing voice, but no one was in the bathroom with me. The voice hadn't been one of my psychic friends, either.

"Hello? Anyone there?" I called. No one answered.

__

That's strange…I thought I heard someone in here…Am I crazy?

[You know, that was a pretty irrelevant question.]

__

That pendant of Yugi's…It looks so similar…to my_ pendant…_

"Hey, Bakura!"

Yugi's voice broke through my thoughts as he and the others came running up to me.

"Hi, you guys," I answered.

"I was talking to everybody, and they'd love to play Monster World tomorrow!" Yugi said. "What do you think? Can we go to your place? If not, we could go to my house."

I hesitated, almost stricken with fear; I didn't want my friends to land in the hospital like all the others, but I couldn't think of a good excuse not to play.

Maybe you should tell them, Keiko said quietly. It's no good to lie again.

"You don't want to…?" Yugi asked, noticing my delay.

I shook my head and tried to smile. "No, that's not it! I _want_ to play to game with all of you!" I hesitated again, trying to think of the right words.

[Just tell them, Ryou. I can't hurt anything.]

"The thing is…At my last school, I used to get together with my friends to play role playing games…" I went on. "But when I did, a really strange thing would happen…People who played games with me would lose consciousness. They're _still_ in a coma in the hospital…You may not believe me but it's true."

Yugi looked really shocked, and I couldn't blame him; it would've been a shock to me, too.

"That sort of thing kept happening, so people started avoiding me," I said sadly. "That's why I kept changing schools. Now I'm living in an apartment by myself, away from my family…I _want_ to be friends with you! And I _want_ to play games, but…" I sighed and turned away from them. "I made a decision. I don't want to lose anymore friends…So you shouldn't get to close to me."

That's a real great way to make friends, Ryou. Pushing them away each chance you get.

"Well…I'll see you…" I said, starting off away from the school, trying to keep back the tears in my eyes. Kiryu was right; I'd never make friends if I pushed them away, but it was too late now.

"Bakura!" Yugi called after me. I didn't stop and just kept on running; it felt like I was running back into my past, back when I didn't have friends, but I couldn't stop. I didn't want to hurt the friends I had now.


	3. The Spirit of the Ring

Chapter 3: The Spirit of the Ring

That night, I sat at my desk in my apartment, carefully writing a letter to my sister. I would send it to Father first so he could redirect it to her. I couldn't help thinking about Yugi and Jonouchi, how disappointed they probably were; I wished that I could play games with them.

__

"H-ha, ha, ha…"

That voice again! This time I heard the voice both out loud and inside my head.

__

"So…you can hear my voice now, can you?"

"Who's there?!" I demanded, leaping up from my chair. I felt amazingly alone, though there had to be someone speaking to me.

__

"I guess from now on I'll be able to speak with my host…Truly a day to remember! H-ha, ha, ha…"

What?! Host?! What does that mean? Now, usually when I asked myself a question like that, either Taro or Rhiamon would show up and answer it. This time, I heard nothing but this new voice.

__

"And yes…something else worth remembering…I've finally met him! _The other boy with a Millennium Item…After _three-thousand years! _The Millennium Items must be resonating with each other to produce some kind of field…and that's why you can hear me now…"_

"Who are you?!" I demanded. I really disliked this sadistic sounding voice in my head; it was like a mixture of all my psychic friends, though mostly Akira, and that scared me; why wasn't Taro answering?

__

"Who am I? I've been with you for a long time…hiding within you…and within the ring of wisdom, the Millennium Ring…"

"The Millennium Ring?" I was on my knees by now. "You mean, this pendant?" I opened my shirt slightly to look at the pendant; horrified, I saw that every spike was driven into my now bleeding chest, and yet I felt no pain.

__

"H-ha, ha, ha…Now you can't take me off…Because of you, I've finally found the bearer of the Millennium Puzzle…I've decided to keep you as my permanent _host!"_

"Get out! Get out of my body!" I exclaimed, trying to sound forceful, the complete opposite of the fear I felt.

__

"Now, now, don't be so cold. Believe me when I say, it feels good in here! In you!! And instead of paying rent, I grant your wishes_! Why, I've granted them almost every day…"_

Now I was really confused, and the voice seemed to sense that.

__

"Didn't you think this when you were playing those games? 'How fun this is!' 'I wish I could play games with my friends forever!' I granted that wish for you!"

"Wh-what are you talking about…? Y-you can't mean those–"

__

"Well, you'll realize soon enough…In any case, this is my chance to get the Millennium Puzzle! If I let this opportunity go by, I don't know how long I'll have to wait for another one…The Millennium Item are relics that house souls from the past…like memorial stones or portable tombs…However, if there is a guardian_ of the tomb, there must also be a _thief_ to rob the tomb! H-ha, ha, ha…!"_

It was silent for a few moments, and then the voice began again, with a slower, more serious tone. _"Now…since I'm feeling good tonight, let me pay my 'rent'…"_

"Wh-what are you up to?!"

__

"H-ha, ha, ha…So you want_ a crew cut? You may not believe it, but I care for my master…that gym teacher swore at you, didn't he…?"_

I suddenly realized what this voice was going to do. "No! Don't…!"

__

"Sleep, Ryou Bakura, sleep…"

The Ring flashed and I blacked-out.

I didn't go to school the next day; I was afraid Koe, the voice, would somehow possess me again and hurt someone else. He informed me the previous night that he'd already almost killed the gym teacher; that Mr. Karita was in a coma in the hospital. Just like all my friends. Koe wasn't happy that I wanted to stay home, and I was almost afraid that he would force me to go, but he didn't; he respected my wishes. Instead, I started pelting him with questions, the first and foremost being:

"What happened to Taro and the others?"

Koe paced back and forth in front of me; his spiritual body was translucent, and I could clearly see the walls and features of the room through him. I was amazed that he actually had a body, but it also scared me because it meant he wasn't just a voice in my head; he was a different person.

"I got rid of those fools," Koe answered. "When I realized we could communicate, I saw no need for them."

"What?! But they were my friends!" I exclaimed. Then I thought came to me. "How did you get rid of them? They were me, weren't they?"

At this, Koe began to laugh. "Part of you? Fool. They were spirit guides, every one of them. That Taro came to you when you were little because you were scared and no one was helping you. Rhimon showed up the first time you had a vision to help explain it. The other three showed up for similar reasons, but none of them were actually you. And neither am I."

"You're…"

"The spirit of the Millennium Ring. I told you that. So I'm you're seventh spirit guide, I suppose, and I know everything the others did. You won't need anyone else." He inclined his head in thought, his white hair bouncing slightly, just like mine did. "Now, to business. One, you are not to transfer schools again. I'm to close to the Millennium Puzzle to let it slip away because of my host's fear."

"You're telling me what to do? Like I have no choice?"

"You _don't_ have a choice," Koe answered, smirking slightly. "That's my second rule. You have no free will to do what you want or any control over your life. Three, you are not to interfere with my plans, or what I do. Last night, I blocked your consciousness from what I was doing; in short, you fainted and I took control. I won't waste my energy on doing that again unless I have no choice."

"How can you think you can control me?!" I demanded angrily. I'd only just learned I have a guest in my body and now he thinks he can rule over me like a king!

"Quite easily," he answered. "But don't think there's nothing in this for you. As I've already said, I grant your wishes instead of paying rent. If you follow my rules, I'll continue to help you, as well as offer protection when it's needed."

"It's my body. You have no control over what I do," I argued hopefully. He laughed again, though this time there was a tone of warning in it.

"Do you really think that? You naïve fool. If you haven't realized yet, it's also _my_ body, and I have every right to control what you do. For your protection as well as mine." He stared in into my eyes with his own chocolate ones and smiled maliciously. "For example, I would like to see you stand on your head."

I didn't move, and he laughed a third time.

"Now, now, we can't have that. Don't you know obedience is virtue? I'll have to show you what happens if you disobey me."

It suddenly felt like there were white-hot knives piercing my skin all over my body; the pain spread to my bones and throughout my very being; I fell to my knees from the torment, but it didn't stop. I felt like I would faint from the pain.

"It'll stop if you do what I asked," Koe said, his voice breaking through the agony. A tear ran down my cheek, partially because of the pain, and partially because I knew I had to obey. I struggled to my feet and fell into a handstand. Instantly, the pain stopped, and I fell onto my back, crying slightly. Koe walked over to me as I got to my knees and knelt down beside me. "You don't want to go through that again, do you, Yadonushi?"

I shook my head frantically, tears running freely down my cheeks. He gently lifted my chin so I was forced to gaze into his eyes. They looked cold and almost soul-less up close, though there was a tiny spark of compassion, so small that it almost wasn't there.

"You'll obey my orders now, won't you?" he asked quietly. I nodded reluctantly, and he smiled again. "Good boy. You'll be around for much longer that way." He stared at me for a few moments and started playing with my hair; I had the urge to draw back, but something told me that would be a bad idea so I stayed put. He wrapped his fingers around my hair and pulled me into a kiss; I was too shocked to do anything. I could feel his lips pressing gently, almost lovingly, against mine; the hand that wasn't holding my hair moved down my body and gripped my arm, pulling me closer to him. I melted into his touch, and we stayed like that on the floor for a few minutes.

DING-DONG.

Koe pulled away from me, hand still gripping my arm. "That's the door, Yadonushi."

"I know."

"You should go answer it. It might be important."

"I will."

"I'll be watching you. You're mine."

"Yes, Koe."

He wiped the tears from my face and disappeared. I stood up, a bit disoriented, walked to the door, and slowly opened it.

"Yes…?" I said before I realized who was beyond the door.

"Yo!" said Jonouchi. Yugi and the others were there too, probably having just come from school.

"Y-yugi…guys…"

"We came over to play with you, Bakura," Jonouchi went on.

"Let's all play Monster World together!" Yugi suggested excitedly. In that instant, I forgot almost everything Koe had told me about his rules.

"No!" I exclaimed. "Get out of–"

I was suddenly wrenched out of control of my body and ended up in a very strange place.

"–the hall and come on in!" Koe finished for me. "I'm so glad you could all make it. Right this way…"

I looked around me bewilderedly; I was standing on a grassy hillside close to a river; to my right were foggy Welsh hills like my father had described and like what I'd seen in books. Standing behind me were two tall, carved wooden doors, just standing on their own. The land on the other side of the river looked just like Giza, complete with the pyramids and scorching desert sun.

__

Whew, that was close…Don't be mean my host…It would be rude_ to turn away your friends after they've come over to play…H-ha, ha, ha…_

Koe's voice was as clear as if he'd been standing next to me, though he wasn't.

__

"Where am I?!" I called out. He didn't answer me immediately; instead, he led my friends to the game room where they got their first look at my custom battle board.

__

You're in your soul room, Yadonushi, Koe answered as he watched my friends' amazement._ That's where you go when you're not in control of our body. I expect you've never seen it before._

"Why does it look like this?"

It's a reflection of your soul and mind. Everything there must be important to you in some way. Now, if you don't mind, I have a Puzzle to win.

Calai'di–Going out on a limb a bit there, aren't I? Though, since the manga is in Yugi's perspective 90% of the time, it could have happened.

Ok, I don't own The Dark is Rising either, which is where I got the idea for the standing doors in Ryou's soul room.

Hey, do we ever see Ryou's soul room in the manga?


	4. The Game

Calai'di–Well, when I first started this, I didn't plan to really deal with the game, but since then I got Vol. 7 and I have most of the game. So even though this is from Ryou's perspective, it's accurate to the manga…until the very end. So, enjoy _my_ version of the game!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or Stargate SG-1 however much I wish I did.

Oh yeah, Japanese things here:

'Koe' means 'a voice'. I've heard it's what Ryou uses to refer to his yami in the Jap. stuff so that's what he uses here.

'Yadonushi' means 'host' or 'landlord'. It's what Bakura refers to Ryou as.

And if anyone was wondering, I came up with four of the names for Ryou's spirit guides like this. 'Taro' means 'first born male'. Rhiamon is actually a Welsh name meaning 'a witch'. Keiko, Jap again, means 'adored'. Palladin is Native American meaning 'a fighter'.

* * *

Chapter 4: The Game

I looked around my surroundings with amazement. Koe said this was my 'soul room', whatever that meant; I guess it's the place my spirit went if it wasn't in control of my body. He also said that everything here must be important to me for it to be here. I walked to the river, thinking about the place.

It was split into two different places because I was attached to both England and Egypt. My father had lived in England for several years and he often spoke of what it was like there. But then, Egypt had always fascinated me, though that might have been because Father was an archaeologist and he told me of the lands he visited just as often as his homeland; however, none of those tales had grabbed me like the stories of ancient pharaohs and scorching sands. The river, I assumed, was there to represent both the Nile and the Thames and to separate the two sides of this "room."

When I reached the river I found a Japanese style bridge crossing it, allowing me to walk to the other side and enter the Egyptian part of this realm. I figured the bridge was made in that particular style to portray my present home. I walked up onto the bridge and stared down at the flowing water beneath me. It was so beautiful here, halfway between the foggy world to my right and the scorching desert to my left. How could I leave this place? Could I just stay here forever and not worry about anything for the rest of my life?

I shook my head angrily, answering my own question, the white reflection down below shimmering at my movement. What was I thinking? I couldn't let Yugi and my friends come under the same fate as the rest Koe had taken. I couldn't let him go through with it; I couldn't let him hurt anymore of my friends.

"I can't let him," I muttered quietly, so accustomed to talking to my spirit guides that it came naturally to talk aloud. I did not, however, expect Koe to hear me, much less answer my threat.

__

"Can't let me what, Yadonushi? There's not much you can do from there, especially not against me, my fallen host."

"Oh no?" I taunted, sounding a lot braver than I felt. "What can you do to me here?"

__

"Everything I could in reality, and more," Koe answered sternly. I couldn't help but tremble slightly at his tone of voice. _"I swear if you even think of hindering me, you will regret it."_

"I hate you," I answered, and I was surprised to find it was truthful. I'd never really hated anyone in my whole life, and now I was saying this to the one person who had ever kissed me like he had. Koe's voice laughed sadistically, sending shivers down my spine.

__

"You just remember you said that the next time you get into trouble, Yadonushi. You may live to regret it." He laughed again at what he'd said. _"But if you distract me for any longer, you may not live to even find out if you'd regret it."_ With that, he closed his thoughts to me and returned to his game with my friends.

I stood, puzzled, leaning over the rail of my bridge. What could I do but let him go on with it? I was tempted to do just that, to protect myself, but instantly trashed the selfish idea. I couldn't leave my friends, and I thought I was in a position to do something. It was what to do I didn't know yet.

And then I thought of something. This was like a game. Albeit an extremely dangerous game for very high stakes with someone I hated more than anything, but a game nonetheless. I had to think of Koe as the Dark Master and I was playing with my friends to defeat him.

And then I started to experiment.

Koe said this place was controlled by my mind, so I had a feeling I could change it a bit while I was here. I stepped off the bridge back to the Welsh side of the room and focused on creating a table in front of me; slowly, a small, round table materialized on the grass. Excited with my success, I then concentrated on making a Monster World board on the table; it turned out to be exactly like the one they were using in the real world.

The first thing I noticed about the board was that there was an extra character piece with the ones my friends were using. I almost couldn't tell who it was because the clothes it was wearing covered up most of its features, but after a few moments of inspecting it I saw that it had the same hair I do. I couldn't believe it! There was a 'me' on the board playing with my friends! But I soon realized that the character couldn't be mine at all, because my personal character piece was the White Wizard, and it didn't look a thing like the one that was on the board. That meant it was Koe's character! But then my friends had no chance to win!

I saw that the pieces on the board were moving toward the forest area, then that part of the board flipped over so they could enter. How I wished I could yell at them not to go there, but there was no way they could hear me from in here. I saw that Yugi's character managed to make one of the monsters that had attacked them an ally; then Anzu's blasted away the other three monsters attacking them. I was admittedly pretty impressed about that; the only thing that could have caused such an attack was a super critical roll, and for an amateur to do that was impressive.

But then the character that looked like me began to change and grow bigger–it was Zork! I was right about it being character Koe's, since the Dark Master was essentially Zork. I saw him attack Anzu's character, and then I heard a scream. A really high pitched scream. It sounded like Anzu. I don't know if she really screamed or if Koe was simply exagerating it for me, but I really didn't like the sound of it. And then I heard Jounouchi cry out. And then Honda. My friends were dropping like flies! It was horrible! I thought they said they were good at games!

And then I heard Koe start laughing hysterically. What had happened? Surely he wasn't enjoying killing my friends _that_ much.

__

"You won't believe what Yugi just said, Yadonushi!"

"What?" I called, curiosity making me forget that I'm supposed to hate this jerk.

__

"He…just said that he wants to be a lead figure along with his friends!"

"No…" I was silent for a few moments; so that was what had happened to all my friends! Koe had put their souls in the lead figures we'd played with. "Why would he say that!"

__

"I have no idea, but I'm not about to deny him what he wants. Looks like I win…I always do in the end."

"No! Please don't hurt them Koe!"

__

"Too late."

"No! Koe!" But I couldn't do anything to stop him. I heard him begin laughing again, and then it abruptly stopped.

__

"What the hell?"

"What is it–"

__

"Damn it, no! He's not supposed to be able to do that!"

"Koe, what happened!" I called, not liking at all how irritated the spirit sounded. Wasn't the game supposed to be over? And why was my left hand tingling?

__

"It looks like the Puzzle has a spirit in it as well. Yugi's still standing."

I resisted the urge to cheer, knowing I'd just get punished for it. Instead, I said, "But you'll still win, right Koe?"

I almost _felt_ Koe smirk at me. That was weird. _"You're not going to gain my favor by sucking up to me, you know."_

"I'm not–"

__

"Yes, you are. Now be quiet. I have a game to focus on."

"Yes, Koe."

I walked over to the side of the game boards Koe was sitting on, summoned a chair, and sat down, staring at the screen of the laptop that sat there. What was I going to do? There was no way my friends were going to be Koe, no matter how good Yugi said he was. I tapped my fingers on the table in annoyance, half wished that I was down with my friends in the game and not stuck up here in my "soul room".

Bored, I pressed a key on the keyboard of my laptop, not expecting it to do anything since I'd tried to rig the simulated Monster World game to be exactly as Koe was seeing it, but I desperately wished something would happen. And something did! I sat straight up, staring at the screen in shock before testing my discovery again. I found that if I typed something with my left hand, it would result in something happening on the laptop screen, but anything I did with my right hand didn't do anything. This couldn't be happening though; how could I do anything in the real world if I was locked in my soul room?

It was then that I noticed that Zork's left hand had been blasted off somehow–probably when I was talking to Koe about the other Yugi. I'd already figured that Koe's soul must be connected to Zork somehow, since all my friend's souls had been connected to their figurines. And since Zork's left hand was taken off, Koe had lost control of his own and I could control it instead. How awesome! Maybe I could help my friends after all!

It took me a little while to figure out how to type quickly with just one hand, as well as how to coordinate my movements with Koe's so I could change some of Zork's and the other character stats a bit and he wouldn't know, but after a while, I could tamper with this information quite easily. By that time, though, Yugi and the others were trapped in Zork's castle and they only had one turn left to escape. I knew the breaking point of my lead figures, thank you very much. I saw that Koe had rigged the game so that if the other Yugi didn't get a super critical on his dice roll, he would lose. That wasn't fair at all; there were four other numbers that could be rolled to fix the column in Zork's tower, not just two zeros. So I decided to try to help and see if I really _could_ do anything in the real world.

I discretely typed in a few commands, making sure I didn't make much noise doing it, and set the game so that any combination of the numbers 0, 3, 6, 8, and 9 would fix the support column. That gave the other Yugi a fifty-fifty chance of saving everyone. And it was lucky that I did too; he rolled a 33, which wouldn't have worked before but did now. I was vaguely amazed that Koe didn't notice the number that worked wasn't a super critical, but he just brushed it off and continued the game. He didn't even try to talk to me about it.

And then I could see why. The player characters were attacking Zork with critical shots all over the place, and yet he wasn't taking any damage. Koe had rigged that too! I didn't matter if your character was level 1 or level 50, if you roll a critical, you're going to make some damage, even if it is just one point. But Zork hadn't taken any damage at all! This was so unfair!

And then he attacked with a super critical hit.

I saw my friends fly across the board, eyes completely blank. And I knew they had lost; Koe knew it too, and he began gloating about it to me, saying I was weak for believing my friends would win when it was obvious they couldn't have. But I was not going to take this from him any longer. I had a weapon that I could use against him, and he had no clue.

"Are you really sure they're dead, Koe?" I called; his laughing instantly stopped.

__

"What are you talking about, baka? Of course they are."

"What about the other Yugi?" I went on. "Is he gone? Doesn't he need Yugi to be alive for him to live, just like you need me?"

He didn't answer, but suddenly stats and calculations appeared on the laptop screen and I knew I had gotten him to do when I'd needed him too. Now I could help my friends. I managed to fix a couple of the numbers so that no matter what, all of my friends' hit points would end up bigger than zero. To say the least, Koe was thoroughly shocked when he saw that they each had one hit point left. But that wasn't all I did.

I opened up a word document and typed out a simple message: _"I am Ryou Bakura. I won't let you kill my friends. I'll fight too."_ I'd decided Koe might as well know what was going on. And he figured it out pretty fast.

__

"Yadonushi, what the hell did you do!" When I didn't answer, he yelled at me again. _"How did you gain control over your hand!"_

But I was determined not to answer him again, at least not in words. I was going to type all my messages from now on; they seemed to have a greater impact on him anyway. I saw Jounouchi's character stab Zork's eyes and automatically closed the corresponding one; I was determined to impair Koe as much as possible. Then I typed another message: _"I won't let you control me anymore! I'm going to help my friends strike you down!"_

So of course, Koe decided to move the laptop to where I couldn't reach it without alerting him that I was up to something.

__

"Care to try your little trick again, Yadonushi?" he said mockingly.

Why not? "You haven't seen the last of me!" I answered. I've always wanted to say that.

__

"There's not much you can do with just one hand! And I've taken the computer away from you, so now you can't mess with the game stats anymore!"

"Doesn't matter, I'll think of something!" I sat back, watched the game for a few moments, and leaned forward when I noticed there were two sets of dice on Koe's side of the table. One set was lying discarded off to the side, but the set he'd been using seemed to be a bit different. I remembered he'd rolled that last super critical without blinking, as if he'd expected it to happen. Maybe the dice were rigged too? I grabbed the rigged dice with my left hand and placed the normal set within easy reach of his right hand, where he'd be sure to pick them up instead. And he did, just as I'd hoped.

Of course, he got very mad when the next roll wasn't a super critical, and he had no clue what had happened to his special dice. This caused him to yell at me _again_, but I pretended I didn't know what had happened. Yeah right. And then it was his turn again.

__

Please roll something bad, I thought silently, then _I_ threw his special dice, hoping they'd listen to me. I managed to roll a 99, a fumble, and practically half of Zork's hit points were blasted away.

Koe had had enough. He yelled at me so loud that I thought my spiritual eardrums would burst. Then he did something I didn't think he'd ever try; he impaled my hand on the tallest tower of the castle diorama.

I have to admit it; I screamed. Like a girl. And then I started crying.

Hey, that hurt all right? I mean, you try getting your hand impaled on something highly unsanitary and try not to scream. I hurt like hell, thank you very much! And what's worse, Koe was laughing at me the entire time I was screaming and cursing and crying. I was beginning to really hate him.

So of course I wasn't about to give up the chance Yugi happened to give me to get back at him.

At first it felt like a small part of my soul was being ripped out, but it didn't really hurt like I thought it would have. I wasn't sure what was happening, actually, until I looked down at the board and saw that Yugi was using his hand power on Zork, and there was a person coming out of the fiend's left arm. I recognized it immediately–it was the White Wizard, my character! So a part of _my_ soul must by in that figurine, but I couldn't control it from here. I just hoped my character would do what I would.

And he did. I was pretty proud, actually; it did _exactly_ what I would have done. And Zork was almost dead, which was awesome. But then I notice this itching feeling at the back of my skull; it almost felt like I was getting ripped apart again. I wasn't sure at first why that was happening until Koe starting laughing extra-loud and ranting about how the other Yugi was about to lose. I was slightly frightened at how triumphant his voice sounded; it was like he'd already killed my friends. I couldn't stand it; it was the worst sound I'd ever heard.

"Koe, what are you doing!" I demanded, hoping he'd hear me and tell me what was going on.

Koe stopped laughing for a moment to answer me, which surprised me somewhat. _"I'm about to kill the other Yugi and his friends. Can't you tell?"_

"What? How?"

__

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Leave them alone!"

__

"No, maybe later."

I growled angrily as he shut down his thoughts to me, surprising even myself at how riled I actually was. I'd never gotten this angry with anyone before. But I still had to help me friends somehow, and I was beginning to get an idea of how to do it. I was going to stop Koe from within our mind.

I ran over to the English side of my soul room and pulled open the standing doors, blatantly ignoring Koe's yells for me to stop. But as soon as I'd taken a step out the door I felt my soul get ripped from my body and placed somewhere else, where I couldn't tell. But I soon discovered that I couldn't hear Koe in my head anymore; no, I could hear him aloud now.

"Let's do it!" he exclaimed and I suddenly felt the sensation of flying. Then I heard both Koe and the other Yugi exclaim at the same time, "The Roll of Life or Death!"

Ah, now I understood where I was, though it freaked me out more than anything. I was part of Koe's dice! So of course, I wasn't surprised went I felt myself hit the table and bounce around, though I tried my hardest to get the dice to fumble or something. My efforts were in vain, though; Koe must have sealed part of his own soul in the dice as well because they ended up landing super critical. Well, I just wouldn't have that.

While I listen to Koe rant about how this had been the best game ever and that both their characters would die, I concentrated on making my dice break up. If Koe didn't have any dice, how couldn't have a super critical and beat my friends, obviously. I finally managed to get the dice to crack on the top, and, upon hearing Koe stop his rants, manifested slightly in the air above the dice that I was still working on destroying, looking at him with what I hoped was a very determined look.

"It's you!" he exclaimed, sounding shocked. I almost rolled my eyes at his ignorance but managed not to.

"I don't want to lose anymore friends!" I told him firmly. "Even if it means my soul should shatter!" Yes, I knew that if I went through with my plan and destroyed the dice, I would die since all of my soul was in them, but that didn't matter. As long as my friends stayed alive, nothing else mattered.

As I watched him ponder in shock over this, knowing he'd come to the same conclusion I had, I felt the dice crack more and easier this time and I knew I didn't have much more time. I turned and smiled at the other Yugi; I he was really quite good looking. "Yugi, everyone, thank you for believing in me." The other Yugi looked heartbroken as I spoke. I felt the dice give way again, gave my friends one last smile, and completely obliterated the dice. Take that Koe.

Now, I expected to wind up in heaven or in front of the Gods of Judgment or something like that, seeing as I was dead and all, but I certainly did not expect to end up in my soul room again. It looked a bit darker, and now as I looked around, there seemed to be some light above me that was shining down on me and lighting up the top of my skin and body like I was some dead person in the movies. And, I noticed as I looked around, there was a woman dressed in white standing nearby with me on the English side of the room. She, like I, was lit up from above, turning the top of her red-haired head almost white as well as her skin. She was looking at me kindly and smiling.

"Who are you? Are you an angel?" I asked as I stepped forward, staring at her with confusion. Well she certainly looked like one. She was beautiful.

However, she shook her head and held her arms wide, bowing slightly and smiling at me.

"I am called Oma Desala, and I have come to give you a choice."


End file.
